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Riga municipality won't cut Eurovision budget

The Baltic Times reports today that a committee of Riga municipality convened today and rejected the proposal, made last week, to cut the munipality's attribution to the 2003 Eurovision Song Contest's budget, thus eliminating all rumors suggesting cancellation of the contest in the Latvian capital.The Baltic Times reoprts today that the financial committee of the Riga municipality decided to reject a proposal from January 31st, and to allocate the contest's production the funds it was promised: 670,000 lats (1.1 million Euros), which are needed for promotional events and infrastructure improvement. Deputies in the city's municipality said they feared Riga's reputation would be damaged, if they went on with the plan proposed last week.

Riga's mayor, Gundars Bojars, warned that Eurovision fans misunderstood the situation and called to cancel all tickets reservations as a result. This statement of Riga municipality seems to put an end to the rumors and disinformation that circulated in the international media in recent days: Eurovision Song Contest 2003 will take place in Latvian capital, Riga, as planned and scheduled!